Tag Archives: audio

Earlier this year, we launched the ability to start a Station – a radio like stream of similar content – from any track on SoundCloud. Simply tap the three dot overflow menu button on any track in our app to access the Stations feature. We’ve built Stations to be straight-forward and simple to use. It’s one of the easiest ways to discover new music and audio relevant to your tastes on SoundCloud.

Today, we’re launching the next step in the evolution of the Stations feature. You can now start Stations from the profile pages of all artists on SoundCloud in our app. Tap “Start Station” on any artist profile for a lean back, seamless listening experience full of tracks similar to the artist you started the station from.

Just like Stations you’ve started from tracks, Stations started from an artist profile will be saved to your Collection so that you can easily revisit them later. The tracks in a Station are refreshed every time you start one again and you can also skip as often as you’d like while listening.

How does it work?The algorithm behind Stations serves content in a different way than the Suggested Tracks feature we recently launched. Stations serve a longer queue of songs that are a mixture of similar, new, and popular tracks related to the track or artist you started the Station from, for an experience closer to listening to the radio.

If you have a SoundCloud Go subscription, tracks from the entire 125 million strong catalog will show up in Stations and Suggested Tracks. If you use SoundCloud for free, you’ll still be able to listen to tens of millions of tracks with both features.

The potential for discovery on SoundCloud is virtually limitless. Stations and Suggested Tracks are part of a larger effort we’re undertaking to make it easier for you to find new artists to love and revisit the artists you already do.

Tapping into StationsLike the Suggested Tracks feature, we’ve also added Suggested Stations in the app Search tab. Your experience may be slightly different depending on how long you’ve been a SoundCloud user.

Existing listeners: Your Suggested Stations include Stations personalized for you based on the artists you’ve liked and listened to the most.

New listeners: If you’ve never played a track before, the algorithm needs some info to get started. We’ll give you a list of the top Stations based on artists on SoundCloud to get started.

SoundCloud is built for discovery; for the magic moment when you’re blown away by an artist you’ve never heard before. Connecting listeners to new artists and artists to new listeners is what we do.

Today we’re excited to announce that we’ve started rolling out our newest discovery feature, Suggested Tracks, across all SoundCloud platforms. It uses your listening activity to automatically find new tracks and artists – ones that you’ve likely never heard before, but are similar to the things you already know and love. And with 125 million tracks and counting on SoundCloud, there’s always more to discover.

Suggested Tracks

Suggested Tracks makes use of our state-of-the-art machine learning algorithm to deliver fresh new music and audio suggestions based on your likes and plays on SoundCloud – refreshing frequently with tracks you won’t find anywhere else. The more you use SoundCloud, the more the algorithm learns and perfects itself, day after day.

On the web, Suggested Tracks is the centerpiece of the new Discover tab we’ve added to your home screen experience. In our app, you’ll find Suggested Tracks in the Search field – easily accessible by tapping the magnifying glass icon in the footer (iOS) or header (Android) of the app.

Ready to get started?

If you’ve been listening on SoundCloud for a while, head over to Search in the app or the Discover tab on web – your suggested tracks are already waiting.

If you’re new to SoundCloud or don’t see many suggestions, we’ll need to learn more about your tastes. Dive into SoundCloud’s huge community of music and audio creators and let us know what you like by listening to or liking a few tracks. You’ll soon find suggested tracks based on your activity.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be introducing even more ways for you to uncover new favorites on SoundCloud. Stay tuned.

Meet On SoundCloud Premier Partner Korey Coleman a podcaster who does a wide variety of weekly podcasts such as The Weekly Roast and Toast, The Casual Call In Show and The Sunday Service all focussed on TV, films and all things entertainment!

Please Introduce yourself to the SoundCloud community.

Currently I live in Austin, TX, where I have a background in animation and illustration. I began getting into broadcasting when I did a cable access show that allowed me to indulge in my favorite pastime for free – watching movies. I produced a movie review program with a corny name called ‘The Reel Deal’ for ten years. Before quitting I animated some of our reviews, which led to me being hired by a company in New York to create the website Spill.com. When that ended, I launched a Kickstarter campaign due to the demand of our fan base. Now I run DoubleToasted.com, a website featuring live streaming video shows centered on humorous pop culture commentary. Soundcloud was the first resource we used to upload content.

How do you use SoundCloud?

On DoubleToasted.com, we have three ways of delivering our content – a subscription based model for live video streaming, paid access to archived videos, and free archived audio. Soundcloud was actually the first and best way to show our audience we were still going after Spill.com shut down. Soundcloud Pro paid for itself in one month, especially with the unlimited number of uploads it gave us. This immediately allowed us to build a library of our recordings in one place for our our regular followers while gaining exposure for new followers. Once DoubleToasted.com was built, the Soundcloud API allowed for the player to be implemented easily into our customization. This was done while also retaining the benefits of the Soundcloud Partnership Program. This gives us exposure on both our site and on Soundcloud.

Describe your creative process. What is your set up like?

We live stream our programs several days a week for paid subscribers. Once the live stream is done I begin the process of rendering video into the necessary formats we need and uploading them to our servers. While this is happening I also create an audio only format that we provide to our listeners for free.

Describe how you reached certain goals or steps in your career.

I’ve always found that reaching my goals happened through being productive. I simply just like to create, and not always for money. I like to see ideas become reality. If people see you have passion and more importantly, see things through to completion, they will either want to sincerely encourage you or be a part of what you’e creating. Of course, the feedback from our audience is a great motivator. Knowing you’re reaching people all over the world and they become upset when you don’t provide them with something you’ve created is both exciting and humbling.

What does it feel like to become a Premier Partner? Where do you want to take your career next?

The Premiere Partnership program has been great! Yes, it provides us with another source of income, but it really does make what you do feel legit. It’s an acknowledgement that someone recognizes you and finds worth in what you do. It’s flattering, but It also makes me look even closer at what we do. What works, what doesn’t work, and how I can always improve. We’re still in our infancy. Not even a year old as of writing this, but It’s definitely making me look more seriously at how we can evolve. I’ve had fun playing with the video component of our business. Now I’m looking forward to seeing how we expand the way we offer audio. Soundcloud is definitely affording us that opportunity.

Who or what is inspiring you creatively? Are there people that you’d like to collaborate or work with?

I find myself inspired by the independence I have with my own business while having immediate access and interactivity with our audience. It’s like have your own personal TV show, comedy club, and concert all in one. Except here we call all the shots. Although we maintain a format there’s time limit, no censors, and restrictions on our creative process. We can try anything at anytime. We take advantage of the technology that’s out there to make our audience part of the show. Live chat, Skype, Google phone calls. The fact that we are so transparent makes the audience encourage our experimentation.